EBERSPACHER What extras will I need

[firstascent2002]

Looking at the hating options for my boat. No gas on board. Want to by an eberspacher from ebay. Looks like the 2.2 kw D" is the model to go for with a remove temperature sensor or better still a 7 days timer.

On ebay the packages usually include the unit, some ducting (uninsulated), a wiring loom and fuel pump and lines. My main tank only has one outlet so I'm guessing that I'll have to install another small tank for the heater.

What do I actually need to install one on my boat. Skin fittings etc. Its always worth pricing up the extras first as you often find that buying a new package suddenly becomes competitive!

Also can I mount the unil in the same locker as my main tank or is that a no no ?

Thanks in advance

jamie

 

[ShipsWoofy]

After buying the basic heater I then paid out around £160 for vents, ducting, exhaust and skin fittings. I recently bought some insulation for the ducting from a forumite and only wish I have insulated a few years ago, it makes a massive difference.

The proper skin fitting is important as it keeps the heat of the exhaust away from the GRP, around £50 on ebay.

I used proper eber exhaust and duct, from a wagon supplier, expensive, but I did not need that much thank goodness. I would not mess around with pretend exhaust, it gets very very hot and I am happily confident mine will never be a problem as it is genuine. The exhaust pipe is around £25 a metre for uninsulated.

My vents; the first two I bought were directional vents built for wagons, but generally not used by the fitters as they link into the wagons original heating vents. They cost £6 each from the place I bought the ducting from, I also bought a Y splitter for around £11 (I think). Last year I bought a closable directional vent off Ebay for about £15, worth every penny. I now think you should have at least one closing vent on any system. But not all as I would hate to see the results if you accidentally closed all the vents.

By closing a vent (in our cabin) we can get the saloon much warmer and the cabin stays at a more comfortable sleeping temp, we can obviously control the heat in the cabin this way.

If I was doing it again from scratch, I would go for an eber water heater and run rads and hot water off it. I may still do it one day.

Hope this gives some ideas.

 

[Gordonmc]

The "extras" can add up to what you pay for a second-hand unit but there are alternatives to branded items.
1. Ducting. Plan out the run where the unit will draw air from and where it will deliver to. Generally drawing air from inside the space the unit is located is not good... any exhaust leak will find itself in the cabin. Recirculating the cabin air will get the space warmer, but fan noise will be increased. I didn't use Eber ducting... there are cheaper alternatives. Try Flexible Ducting in Milngavie for a start. You might want to insulate the outlet ducting... I didn't because it runs under a bunk.
2. Exhaust. The norm is 22mm flexible stainless steel. Its a good idea to insulate with a purpose made sleeve inside ali ducting. A cheaper alternative is to wrap it in rockwool and slide over a length of B&Q 110mm ali ducting to keep it all in place. You will need a skin fitting designed to dissipate heat. They also have the spiggot at an upward angle to create a swan-neck to prevent water ingress. Ebers need the inlet combustion air to balance the exhaust so you need a length of pipe on the inlet side.
3. Fuel. If using the main tank you will need a stack pipe or to T off from the line to the engine. If the latter do it after the water seperator. I use a small tank for the Eber because I burn paraffin.
The final "extra" is a bottle of fine malt. You will need it for sustenance when, after firing up the unit first time at home in the garage you will find it won't work at all in the boat.
Best of luck!

 

[Heckler]

i have a source and the d1lcs go for about £200, the d2 airtronics £300 plus, as jools says, you can get a skin fitting for about £50, i used 2 extra mtrs of ducting on my bene 351, i paid £20 for that plus £5ish for a y and some assorted bits, i paid £7 for a stack pipe for the main fuel tank as recommended by the eber techie. the bits of trunk and fuel tube you invariably need can be got off ebay for half the price of the eber shop. the rotary control with the dilc is more than adequate, the 7 day timers with the d2s are crap, they only allow 1 hour running at a time but you can get a thermostat controller for about £30 from ebay, they are i italian! but that is not a prob. the exhaust i sourced from a whole saler but you can get half a meter for about a tenner off ebay, all in all budget about £120 for the extras, by the way the ex bt ones are fine, the only prob i ever found was that the glo plug gauze gets clogged and it is dead easy to remove and clean,
stu

 

[seascape]

dogWatch
Any ideas of the name/type/supplier of insulation you used on the eber ducting?
whats the thickness of the material ? Is it a hard outer coating ?
Thanks

 

[ShipsWoofy]

Sorry not without being on the boat..

I think think! it might be a 3M material. As said I bought it from a forumite who had had to buy a job lot and was selling off the excess he did not use.

It is in tubes and was/is tight to fit over my 50mm ducting, if I had had 60mm I would have had to cut it and tie wrap it in place, in fact had my ducts been longer (about 4.5ft each) it would have been too much of a struggle. Being rubberised the insulation was gripping the duct as we pushed it through. My best description of the stuff I have, it resembles the rubber on the back of those heavier floppy mouse mats but is around 1/2 inch thick, except it is really light in weight.

It really does make a difference though, Top Cat is a central cockpit and the heater is in a cockpit locker split to feed fore and aft. Before insulating we were getting a really warm locker, ideal if it had been clean enough to store towels and the like. With insulation I reckon the saloon gets at least a degree warmer, it is hard to quantify, but you really do feel the change if your heater is outside and feeds from outside the saloon.

 

[eclipsemullet]

[ QUOTE ]

If I was doing it again from scratch, I would go for an eber water heater and run rads and hot water off it. I may still do it one day.

Hope this gives some ideas.

[/ QUOTE ]
What do the rads look like and where does one normally position them etc?

 

[Jake]

I ran an Eber on my Freeman when I lived aboard in London (mid-winter.)
The tank was nothing more than a 5 litre plastic fuel can with a simple take-off. It was kept filled with white ULS diesel, of which it used very little (thankfully - it's not cheap). Apparently, the Ebers run much cleaner on this (rather than red diesel) and mine was certainly trouble free (until the battery voltage dropped due to a dodgy connection).

PBO did some experiments with a similar Webasto system sold by Keto of Bournemouth. The expandable aluminium ducting was insulated with 3M's Thinsulate, sold as sleeves. This stuff is pricey, but it is also hydrophobic, flame resistant, and reduced heat loss at the furthest outlet by an awesome 60%.

Another trick, of course, is to use increasingly narrower ducting, the further it is from the fan. This pressurises the air, and keeps it flowing faster (and therefore warmer) at the most distant outlet.